Women: Health benefits of lifting weights – Part 28

Long, lean, shapely, toned and sexy body. Do I have your attention? Yes, this is the kind of physique any woman would love to have. How to get it? Cardiovascular exercise and light weight training.

There are so many benefits to weight training that due to the myth of the “bulk”, many women just aren’t aware of. Fear not, my lady. You won’t get big but you’ll definitely feel the power. Benefits include increased HDL (good) cholesterol levels, increased libido, lower risk of adult onset diabetes, lower risk of osteoporosis, increased metabolism, lower blood pressure, improved posture, as well as just a great way to feel good about you!

Here’s where to begin:

1.Set your goals. Whether it be weight loss, toning or endurance, you must have a goal. Write it down somewhere so you can assess how you’re doing.

2.Measure. Your measurements will be a more accurate way to tell how you’re progressing than the scale. Muscle weighs more than fat so forget the scale or you might find yourself getting frustrated. You’ll find your clothes fit differently and people noticing a difference in how you carry yourself. Again, write it down so you can chart your progress.

3.Join a gym or purchase some free weights. It doesn’t have to get expensive. Even using the weight of your body is a good start. For example, push ups, squats and lunges are great and target more than one muscle group at a time. As far as the weights, go for light ones. Get a good set with 3, 5, and 10 lb. weights and do 3 sets of 20 repetitions. You’ll feel the burn by rep. 12 and you’ll get into fat burning mode and stay there!

4.Learn the proper form. Very important! There are many sites that have videos that demonstrate proper form and a good variety of exercises. Try www.exrx.net or join a bodybuilding forum and ask questions of the professionals. I feel that if you see someone with the body you want, ask them how they got it.

5.Get going. Whether you do a few push ups, some dips or a few squats, do something.

6.Don’t forget the cardio. It’s important to do some sort of cardiovascular exercise in addition to your weights. A good session of 20-30 minutes in between weight training days will do wonders.

7.Fuel the Fire. Eat clean. You know what that means, no junk. The best foods are things from the earth and lean cuts of meats for protein to build and repair muscle tissue.

8.Re-hydrate! Drink at least 2 – 8 oz. glasses of water before a weight training session and at least that amount during your session. Consume the balance of your 6-8 glasses of water throughout the rest of your day.

Any way you do it, just get moving! Fight the flab and stay in fat burning mode all the time with all that strong, sexy muscle. You go girl!

Successful women and the concept of merit – Part 1

“What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice and all things nice.” From childhood, women have been conditioned to be “nice”, “good”, “obedient”, “well behaved”. As for the lads, well, “Boys will be boys”. We take men as we find them, because they are never going to change.

In the U.K., some jobs have been feminised to the point of self-destruction. If you work in education or in many branches of the public service, you will be expected to employ feminine traits to the point of parody. Feminine forward thinking and planning concentrates on the ninety per cent perspiration, forgetting the ten per cent inspiration that reveals real genius. Womanly obedience leads to the imposition of absurd and unworkable practices that no one questions. The attention to detail that had the Victorian lady ruining her eyesight stitching fine embroidery now has her twenty first century descendant peering for hours at minutely detailed spreadsheets.

Even more insidious is the rise of the playground sneak. “Oooh, you’re not allowed to do that!” is heard in every office. Using the wrong form, the wrong words, the wrong font, the wrong procedure is a crime. Creativity, common sense and experience are sacrificed to the god of paperwork. Freedoms fall one by one – freedom to act, to write, to think. Adults drop down exhausted in the pursuit of unachievable targets reminiscent of a school sports day. “I’m going to win a race with my legs tied in a sack.” Why? Why not remove the sack, give the task some thought and run faster? Because the rules say you must use a sack.

At one level, women have done very well out of all this. Why risk employing a man, who probably will not listen, when you could have a woman who will dot every “i”, cross every “”t”, meet every target and not expect much money for doing it? Professional conferences are packed with rows of trouser suited, spiky heeled women earnestly spouting the latest orthodoxy. Who pointed out that the emperor had no clothes? It was a little boy, wasn’t it? Best not let him in here.

So where are the men? Doing nicely, thank you, in the few areas where initiative and drive are valued above drudgery and conformity. We have plenty of male investment bankers, but few teachers. Does this matter? Given the number of boys who leave school without literacy, numeracy or hope, it matters a great deal. Boys need male role models who are not the local drug pushers, but successful and presentable men who regard learning as important. Remove the tick boxes and the targets, allow independence and ideas, reduce the power of the inspectorate – a body much given to walking about with no clothes on -and inspirational teachers of both sexes will come flooding back.

Women have fought long and hard for equality. The first struggle was against male prejudice and entrenched power. The next fight will be against a more insidious enemy – women themselves. Queen Victoria said, “I will be good”, defining herself by merit. We are not Victorians now. Today’s women need to say, “I will question, I will think, I will protest, I will rebel.” There is more than equality at stake.

Plus size women fashion tips: What not to wear

Stop buying clothes for “the day you’ll be thin” and start buying clothes for who you are now. Today is all you have to deal with. Buy the best you can afford. Whether you are shopping at Target or at a high end department store the goal is to bring home something that makes you feel and look good so lets examine what doesn’t look good on the plus size woman.

Do not wear clingy polyester. I think this rule should apply to everyone. No one looks good in clingy polyester especially the plus size woman. Tight clothes in general are not a good idea. There seems to be a popular misconception that heavy women wear tight clothes because they think it makes them look slimmer. I think it has more to do with not having access to larger sizes so they end up buying what is available. Plus size fashion is still not readily available in all places, especially in the larger sizes.

Another tip for plus size women: do not always wear black because when it is 90 degrees out black is not slimming just really hot. Especially black polyester. When we’re heavy others already know we are heavy so there is not point trying to fool them by wearing black all the time. I’m not a big fan of loud prints but I think anyone who wants to wear them should wear them, with a little word of caution thrown in. Loud prints from head to toe that scream “I’m here”, I’d give a pass. A top with a loud print and a solid on the bottom would be okay, as far as I’m concerned. You have to wear it so if you’re comfortable then who am I say you shouldn’t be wearing it?

Thoughts on womens liberation movement – Part 11

Equal opportunity is one thing. Equality is quite another. If women want to become a fire fighter in the front line, then they should be able to carry a 200 pound bloke out of a burning building. And I quickly add, so should a man fire fighter. If they can’t, neither of them should be a fire fighter. The criteria should be equal, just as the opportunities should be equal. I do not believe in the minority quota system. I do not believe any police force should have to have 10% women, 15% blacks, 3% Hispanics or any percent of anyone else. It should consist of 100% competent and able officers. Women should not get a job because they are a woman. Even as eye candy. The person hired should be the most qualified person applying.

If there was true equality, there would only be one world record for everything. Not a woman’s 1500 meter record and a man’s 1500 meter record. Let’s get on the same plateau. There would not be men wrestlers and women wrestlers. There would be wrestlers. Golfers. Boxers. Tennis players. Gymnasts. Swimmers. Why haven’t women complained that on every golf course, there are the men’s tee and the women’s tee. The women’s tee being anything from 10 to 80 yards shorter then the men’s? Surely that’s not equality. But I am surprised there are not more women golfers. When learning to play, I had golf lessons. The pro said to me “Now, keep your head down, keep the clubface square on take away, keep your left arm straight on the back swing, do a full turn with your hips, get the club looking skyward, as you release start turning your hips toward the target, keep your hands slightly forward of the ball at point of impact and don’t forget to follow through!” I said “Wait a minute, I’m a man. I can only do ONE THING AT A TIME! I can’t do 8 things in conjunction.”

By the way, I think that bra burning thing was great.